Careem adds public taxis to its Saudi Arabian offering

New service being launched in partnership with Al Tayyar Travel Group, a $5B travel group and key investor in Careem

Adding everyday licensed taxis to the app was to offer more choice to Careem's large and growing customer base in Saudi Arabia

Following the success of its private limousine offering in Saudi Arabia, Careem has announced that it will be adding everyday licensed taxis on demand to its mobile apps in partnership with Al Tayyar Travel Holding Group

Careem, established in July 2012, is MENA's leading app for the booking of private, chauffeur-driven cars. The service is also available on the Careem website or by calling their 24 hour global call centre.

Since launch, Careem has expanded rapidly in the region, adding a further 16 cities to its network within less than three years. Careem entered Saudi Arabia two years ago and is now operational across five local cities: Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Dhahran and Khobar. Careem is growing more than 30% per month, and have grown up to 300k users and 6k cars across its markets.

The idea behind adding everyday licensed taxis to the app was to offer more choice to Careem's large and growing customer base in Saudi Arabia. The new taxi offering is being launched in partnership with Al Tayyar Travel Group, which is a $5B travel group and is a key investor in Careem. The taxi market in Saudi Arabia is very sizeable at 100,000 taxis, but does not always offer a consistently high quality of service. By bringing together Careem's technology and operational processes along with Al Tayyar's understanding of the local market, the plan is to offer a more consistent and high quality taxi experience to the people of Saudi Arabia.

Commenting on the launch of the new taxi service, Dr Abdulla Elyas, co-founder and head of Careem KSA operations said: "We are really excited to be offering our customers even more choice. With our robust technology and operational processes, we will be able to overcome most of the challenges with everyday taxis. The addition of taxis to our app will grow the taxi market rather than cannibalise it- more people will use taxis, more often, secure in the knowledge that their ride will reliable and safe. They will be able to pay by credit card in cash or with their STC Qitaf points like they pay on Careem limo rides. Our mission is to make it easy for people to get around their cities."

Abdullah AlDawood, CEO of Al Tayyar, commented: "We are thrilled to be a part of the phenomenal growth story of Careem in Saudi Arabia, and are excited to support them in the launch of everyday taxis. For us, Careem represents a great case study of good investment choices that not only makes business sense, but also one that has a very positive impact on society as a whole. As a player in the new world of app aggregators, it is of paramount importance to enter markets quickly and to scale rapidly. By extending Careem's appeal to a wider audience, their long term success in the market is a sure thing and we congratulate them on the initiative."